Renee Blount

Renee Blount
Country (sports)  United States
Born (1957-05-12) May 12, 1957
Washington, D.C., United States
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Turned pro 1978
Plays Right-handed
Prize money $21,074
Singles
Career record 23–33
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 153 (December 21, 1986)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 2R (1981)
French Open 2R (1981)
Wimbledon 3R (1981)
US Open 2R (1981)
Doubles
Career record 9–19
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 420 (February 2, 1987)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (1982)
French Open 2R (1985)
Wimbledon QF (1984)
US Open 2R (1985)

Renee Blount (born May 12, 1957) is a retired American professional tennis player.

Early career

Blount was a number one singles and doubles All-American player for UCLA.[1] She joined the WTA Tour in 1978 and went on to reach a career high ranking of 63 in singles and 8 in doubles in the world.

Tournament career

She was the 5th seed in the 1978 Australian Open and competed in the 1979 US Open and the 1980 US Open.

In 1979, Blount made history when she became the first African American woman to win a professional tennis tournament since Althea Gibson when she won the Futures of Columbus.[2]

In 1984, Blount achieved her best Grand Slam women's doubles result, reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon partnering Janet Newberry, losing to Kathy Jordan and Anne Smith 6–0, 6–1.

Blount was, also, a mixed doubles semi-finalist at the French Open and extended Martina Navratilova to three sets at the Australian Open in 1980. She has competed in Wimbledon five times including a 1986 doubles quarter finalist appearance.

Retirement

After retiring from professional tennis, she became an assistant coach at the University of Virginia and was inducted into the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame in 1997.

Blount founded the Keswick Tennis Foundation to help children with autism and disabilities develop skills through tennis. She currently coaches at the Keswick Tennis Foundation in Central Virginia.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "All-Americans". UCLA Bruins. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  2. ↑ Johnson, John H., ed. (March 8, 1979). "Black Woman Wins Avon Futures Tennis Tourney". Jet Magazine. 55 (25): 51. ISSN 0021-5996.
  3. ↑ "40 Love Icons: Renee Blount". www.wtatennis.com. Women's Tennis Association (WTA). December 9, 2013.
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